It’s been less than a week since Valentino Rossi announced his retirement from MotoGP. This has to be some of the most shocking motorsport news in a while, but it’s not over yet. He still has a few races to go and will continue to play a key role in the series next year.
Valentino Rossi has been actively racing for nearly three decades. If you’ve ridden a motorcycle before, you know exactly how hard it is to do it. And competing against some of the fastest guys on two wheels is infinitely harder. But Valentino Rossi is already in his 40s and everyone expected that day to come. With 115 GP victories since 1996, he is the second most successful driver of all time after Giacomo Agostini.
Valentino Rossi would have to win eight more races to claim the record. But the thing is, he only has eight races to go before he stops driving. It’s been four years since he last won a MotoGP event, so the chances are good that Giacomo Agostini will hold the title for a few more years. If Rossi can’t do that, Marc Marquez would be the next man on the list to change the hierarchy.
Valentino Rossi finished 13th overall at the Grand Prix of Styria, 26 seconds behind the winner Jorge Martin. He was still faster than his teammate Cal Crutchlow, who crossed the finish line 17th overall. But in a few days the two will burn for the second weekend in a row in Spielberg. According to Team Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing, Valentino will fight to cross the finish line in the top 10 riders.
Valentino Rossi is currently in 19th place in the MotoGP drivers’ standings, which just goes to show that he’s not as fast as he was in the good old days. Cal Crutchlow will ride the Petronas Yamaha SRT again as Franco Morbidelli is still recovering from his knee injury. Before the eleventh race of the season, Petronas Yamaha SRT finished 9th in the team standings, while Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP continues to lead against Team Ducati Lenovo.